Dinner A Love Story Cookbook

LS: What's your strategy for introducing new foods to kids, and how quickly do you surrender if they aren't willing to eat something?

JR: I try to suggest new things at least once a week. It doesn’t have to be a complete new recipe every time. It can be something as easy as sweet potato fries from the freezer, but adding in something new is really important in terms of how they approach the table. They expect to see new things all the time. We call it "flexing their adventure muscles."

There was a time when I would push them to embrace something new, even if they initially said they didn't like it, and it turned into a struggle. Now, not a single "picky-eating expert" will agree with me here, but I have no problem putting some peanut butter on a piece of bread if that's all my child is willing to eat that day. As long as I'm not spending time cooking a whole new meal for them, I'm fine with it. Eventually, they work through these things on their own.